I need an opinion on something

[delcid23456]

So I saw this video recently ( https://youtu.be/o78HcBmKoqE ) and I am curious about your guys opinion on these technics when it comes to making shims for the body armor. The video isn't star wars related but when I saw it it got me curious about modifying tk armor you know. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

It's an interesting video, with ABS plastic you have to take care with heat, most people use a hot water bath method to help ABS plastic conform or bend, I use a heat gun but that's after a lot of practice, heating ABS is a funny thing, it can go from slightly bending to molten miss within a blink of an eye. Most of the shimming normally needed is with flatter pieces of plastic so I'm not sure if the process in the video would be of help.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Agree with Glenn, with experience you can use a Hot gun ar even the induction cooktop or electric  stovetop  .

[jsilvius[Staff]]

It is an interesting watch. As a new builder, I can tell you the horror of using the heat gun. I destroyed several pieces of ABS trying to learn how to use it.

As with most building tools, experience is key. Test and practice on scrap. I found the hot water bath method works in most cases with the ABS.

 

[Sly11[Admin]]

The moral of this story is, heat guns can be very dangerous to ABS and very quickly. Plenty of practice is always best before unleashing the heat on your hard earned armour kit.

Someone well versed on using a heat gun can tend to make it look very easy but different thicknesses react at varying times and  the ambient temperature when using them also plays a part in hpw long is too long before you end up with a floppy melted piece of plastic.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

ABS is normally heated to around 176 (Fahrenheit) for molding (like TK armor) and melts at about 370.  Heat guns can reach temperatures of 1200 degrees, just shy of what it takes to melt aluminum.  Not a chance I suggest taking unless you are well versed in how to use one.  Hot water baths are much more forgiving, but since water boils at 212 it still pays to be very, very careful and work in small increments.  Once a piece is warped it's next to impossible to fix, so as mentioned above using scraps to practice with will serve you well.